The glory that was D.C.

Is the United States on the same fateful trajectory as another great republic: Rome? David Walker, comptroller general of the United States, makes a compelling argument that the nation is headed down the same path as that long-extinct empire.

"The Roman Republic fell for many reasons, but three reasons are worth remembering: declining moral values and political civility at home, an overconfident and overextended military in foreign lands, and fiscal irresponsibility by the central government."

Walker's focus has been almost entirely on the third factor. "Simply stated, America is on a path toward an explosion of debt. And that indebtedness threatens our country's, our children's and our grandchildren's futures. With the looming retirement of the baby boomers, spiraling health care costs, plummeting savings rates and increasing reliance on foreign lenders, we face unprecedented fiscal risks."

Just in case you think this singularly forthright Federal official is being a bit...alarmist...

The U.S. economy, once the envy of the world, is now viewed across the globe with suspicion. America has become shackled by an immovable mountain of debt that endangers its prosperity and threatens to bring the rest of the world economy crashing down with it.

The ongoing sub-prime mortgage crisis, a result of irresponsible lending policies designed to generate commissions for unscrupulous brokers, presages far deeper problems in a U.S. economy that is beginning to resemble a giant smoke-and-mirrors Ponzi scheme. And this has not been lost on the rest of the world.

What have Americans gained from their nation's mountain of debt? A crumbling infrastructure, a manufacturing base that has declined 60 percent since World War II, a rise in the wealth gap, the lowest consumer-savings rate since the depths of the Great Depression, 50 million Americans without health insurance, an educational system in decline and a shrinking dollar that makes foreign travel a luxury. The best cars, the best bridges and highways, the fastest trains and the tallest buildings are all to be found outside America's borders.

A return to fiscal responsibility would make America far stronger, both domestically and internationally, than would a continuation of current policies that falsely project strength through idle protectionist threats and failed military aggression. Current tensions between the United States and the rest of the world will continue as long as America's military bark is louder than its economic bite.